RaexSpeedy: The Undercovers
by xTammyVx
Summary: During a party at which selected Titans have attended undercover, Roy convinces a sleep-deprived Raven that it'd be a good idea to go to a spare room together, just for a rest. Questions, responses and maybe even little sparks of something else ensue... -Details at top of fic-
1. Undercovers

**Pairings:**  
RaexSpeedy

**Summary:**  
During a party at which selected Titans have attended undercover, Roy convinces a sleep-deprived Raven that it'd be a good idea to go to a spare room together, just for a rest. Questions, responses and maybe even little sparks of something else ensue...

**Rating**:  
T for sexual references.

**Multi-chapter?**  
Yes.

**AN:**  
I think I need to go to Shippers Anonymous.

* * *

"Richard, I'm tired."

The words were said in a tone so unfalteringly smooth that they could only come from one biting down on their complete discomfort. Of course, how could _anyone_ be expected to feel at ease with a smile set so firmly on their face? It was almost as though the gentle, welcoming expression had been sketched on with permanent marker. Unknown to everyone else, however, Raven's eyelids were but concrete slabs she was trying to keep alift with bare hands. Aching hands at that, almost numb after holding a tray with what felt like a million flutes of champagne for what seemed like an equally absurd amount of time.

"You said you'd help," Richard replied, his own cheery face not quite disguising the sharp look in his eyes. "It's just another five hours or so-"

"-on top of the two hours I spent chasing down Cinderblock, then three to fly over and attempt to calm Hotspot out of melting all the ice on the roof of Kole's place because her caveman bodyguard went on a rampage at the sight of fire, and another four flying the ship home when Vic got knocked out and you were busy in Canada or whatever with your girlfriend..." She let her words drift off in a yawn, stifled quickly under a deep breath. "And, now, I'm going to faint if I don't sleep, even for just a couple of hours."

Her leader sighed heavily, small chest rising in the suit. While _he_ seemed so used to dressing up all fancy and special, Raven twitched awkwardly in the dress. The fabric was unfamiliar and not at all unpleasant to touch, but clingy enough to be hell moving-wise. Each time she turned to offer another overly delighted adult (who all seemed to be looking at the undercover Titans in complete adoration as the young adults waded through the masses of grey-haired men and their significantly younger wives) the fear hit that it may be her last move before the whole thing snapped to pool at her heeled feet.

"Take these," Richard finally offered, handing her a packet of energy chews. "There's enough for three hours of intense work, so they should cover till the end of tonight."  
With that, he swept away, buried in a sea of small-chat bullshit and bad jokes. The small, plastic-wrapped bag was looked at with distain from Raven – it was bad enough she had to drink _caffeine_ today, but now she was expected to put _more_ crap into her body?

Unlikely.

She couldn't ignore the presence behind her, that of a solid, silent figure.

"I couldn't help but overhear-"

"Beat it, Harper."

Not a tad discouraged, the young man followed her further into the crowd, eyes notably not leaving her butt.

"Look, Raven, I get it – you're tuckered out," he continued, voice reasonable and full of empathy, "I understand. I want to help."

She immediately began to feel a tad of regret for her harsh tone. It wasn't him – Roy wasn't at fault, nor was he to blame. He wasn't the reason the remaining skin left bare by the stupid garment—a _lot_, for that matter—was dyed a peachy, "normal" hue, and a wig hid the purple locks that threatened to expose her as an out-of-control rebel or (supposedly worse) her true identity. Plus, its fringe kept getting in her eyes. It was really beginning to irritate, to say the least. She happened to know that they only reason she, Richard, Roy, Wally, and a few others were only chosen for this mission because they were the only ones who appeared even remotely human enough (as in, not donning wings, overly-green eyes, a celebrity nametag or flames erupting from their ears at the mention of the word "hotdog") to attend as waiters and waitresses at the Wayne Mansion.

"Okay, well, I'm just going to keep talking. Do you know how many guests Bruce allows to crash at the mansion? Yeah, that's right – none." He paused for a moment to smile charmingly at a lady who was easily once beautiful but had lost her looks to age and cigarettes as she exchanged her empty glass for a full one. "So you know how many guest rooms get used?"

"Richard would never allow it," Raven replied hastily, head doing a slight dip to the side as she held the tray up to a small group in the corner. She had no idea why so many drinks were to be carried – these people were obviously rich enough to _afford_ the expensive alcohol being served, but _far_ too proud to actually get to the point of tipsiness. Most were only drinking to ease the ache of their cheeks against the transparently-false laughter they all insisted on. "Besides, we're supposed to be listening for information – Bruce isn't holding this party for kicks."

Roy backed her very close to a wall as they removed the dry glasses from their trays. Raven immediately assumed he'd purposefully had her chest pressed to his but dismissed it. After all, Dick made it _very_ clear after her last encounter with Mr. Sex-On-The-Brain that she was _not_ to have a tarantula put down his boxers ever again. Raven really didn't see what the big deal was – sure, it bit him (twice) but it's not like the poor thing was venomous. She was actually quite fond of the small creature, who now had his very own glass container the size of a door and twice as high, complete with loads of clueless prey, plants, dirt, tunnels and hidey-holes. Sir Needs-a-Shave never quite got over the taste of Roy's thigh and even seemed to know when the archer was in the Tower. Some days, Raven let the little bugger roam free (and the spider) just to watch chaos unfold. Of course, she was told not to do that also.

But what _could_ she do when the cage was "faulty"?

"Richard will never know – I've set up eight hidden cameras on every wall and clipped a recorder onto each person in this room," he murmured quickly.

Suspicious, Raven automatically checked herself over, taking a step forward to reach her back.

Roy smirked as, once again, the young girl pushed herself onto his body unexpectedly. "Eager, are we?"

She leapt back to the safety of solid wall.

"Don't worry, I have no reason to keep a tag on you." He waggled his brows suggestively. "Unless you're walking away – in that case, I'll be keeping an eye glued to your-**ow!**" Roy rubbed his arm, trying to soothe the sore spot that he knew was just a bruise waiting to happen. "Stop playing child and be a professional. You want to take a nap or not?"

Wrestling with the idea and fighting the urge to rub her mascara-lashed eyes, Raven's shoulders slumped into submission. "Fine," she replied.

"Then ditch this and follow a few minutes after me," he instructed, swiftly leaving her to the mercy of anyone that tried to stop and chat to "Rachel". Tonight, the Titan was playing a university student, one of the volunteers from the "charity" for which Mr. Wayne was hosting the party. Though he could easily afford his own waiters, the group had been "so grateful" they "couldn't stand to see the kind man spend any more money on the great cause" and had quickly slipped into their uniforms.

Only one bothered to speak, but was soon whisked away by an excited-looking woman who donned a ring identical to his.

"Thank goodness," Raven muttered gratefully. The man had had the most unusual voice, like a child's broken whistle that had been lost in their sandpit for a month and left to rust.

A moment later and she was outside the double-doors, where her "saviour" was waiting patiently. Roy casually slung an arm around the small waist, guiding it around corners and twisting hallways. By the time they actually arrived at a door labelled GUEST—the one at the very end in a corridor of identicals—Raven's heels were hanging from her fingers by the crimson straps. The moment it shut with a light_click_, followed by another from the lock, Raven tugged a bow loose, the only thing keeping the whole dress up.

"Jesus," Roy whistled in shock. "If I had known getting you out of your clothes would be so easy, I wouldn't have bothered acting the gentleman."

Raven rolled her eyes and bent forward to tug the black wig from her scalp. Roy, being the observing man he was, couldn't help but notice the bounce of her cleavage in the strapless bra.

"You can stop staring," she shrugged. "You're not about to get laid. I'm just here to rest."

"Hey, I had _no_ intentions of banging you whatsoever. Although I have to say you picked your attire right." He flashed a cheeky grin as his eyes drifted to the purple lace and black hipster briefs. Sure, they _looked_ snug, but he knew it would really take a mere tug of two hands to bring to the girl's knees.  
Raven, on the other hand, couldn't honestly deny that the only thing that found reason to be angry with the way he gazed so hungrily at her petite body was her pride.

She cleared her throat audibly and he went back to unbuttoning the crisply-white shirt Richard had stuck him with.  
A minute later, Roy glanced up as the empathic re-entered from the bathroom on the left side, ruffling the hair she'd been forced to tie in a low bun for the past one-hundred and thirty-six minutes.

"Hey," he chirped, "you're all-"

"-grey again, yes," Raven finished as she climbed onto the bed. "Well done, Master Detective."

Roy crushed the urge to reach out and touch her skin – that didn't mean pulling her under the duvet and going places with her that his imagination had already been allowed to wonder, but he just wanted to know what it felt like. He guessed smooth, soft, light, something that would put silk to shame. The lust for that one surged a little more as she collapsed into the softness and released a grateful moan. He watched Raven arch her back, point her foot in the air and curl her fingers in one swift motion. Something about how easily the erotic gracefulness came to her made Roy gulp, because he knew she wasn't trying to seduce him. She wasn't being this way because she wanted to jump his bones; she was just this way because she was...

"...Raven," he whispered, finishing the thought out-loud. The way he said it surprised even him – a little lower than he remembered his voice sounding.

Her small frame dropped back into a slump. "What?" she snapped, sharp and defensive. "That's the first time I've actually stretched since I slipped that stupid thing on."

"Yeah, yeah." Roy managed to drag his eyes from her in an instant. He'd been crushing on Raven for a while and still hadn't thought of a single way to get through to the empathic other than saving her fine ass and then making a remark about it. She, of course, had never gotten even the inkling that this was the case, instead mistaking him for a guy that'd do anything that moved.

Not that the red-head ever did anything to discourage that judgement, admittedly.

A few rustles later and they were both under the covers. Roy opted to leave the shirt on, but kept it loose with the buttons undone.

"You lay a hand on me and your dick is as good as the top of a red-wine bottle," she warned. The menace in her flat tone tickled the hair at the back of Roy's neck.

He decided to test the waters of her severity, prepared for sharks. "What's that supposed to mean? I get screwed?"

"Ever _seen_ a corkscrew, arrow boy? You know – the swirly thing with the sharp end? Sound appealing to you?"

With a grimace and a bit of ghost-pain in his crotchal region, Roy laughed nervously. "No, but I know a couple of guys who pay good money for that kind of thing if you're interested in making a few extra bucks."

Raven turned onto her stomach, eyes narrowed, and leaned her elbows into the cushioned mattress. "You... disgust me," she cringed, "to say the least."

He shrugged and clasped a hand behind his red hair.

A few beeps sounded as she set the alarm for ten o'clock, giving them three hours before they put their monkey-suits back on and started prancing about for the million-dollar-suit owners a couple of floors down. Finally, the two were sent into pitch-black and fantasy got the better of Roy's brain. His thoughts began to meander and hop around, but only on one subject: the ticket into Rae's pants.

She liked books and that was an understatement. Roy happened to know her room was filled to the brim with pages upon pages of words in alien tongue—some actually from planets besides Earth, others things like _Pride and Prejudice_ and whatnot (it didn't really make a difference – either way, he didn't understand them)—so was it smarts? Was knowing every symbol and letter of the Periodic Table the big secret?

Or was it looks? It wasn't unusual for him to catch the girl watch longingly as Garth rose from the waters, and she was always quick to offer him a drink. Roy didn't imagine Raven was the type to go solely for that particular aspect, but he also had to take into consideration that she was eighteen, and even _she_ had to appreciate a physical attraction.

Then again, it could always be emotion. Someone who got her, listened, talked, understood. That's what that guy Mashy Lord or Malchilore or whatever did, from what he'd heard Dick briefly explain when Roy visited the Tower. Raven had looked emptier than usual, but vanished the moment he asked what was up. He was instructed never to mention it again, and he hadn't.

Roy had all of those things. As if Ollie would ever allow him to simply be brawny and brainless? Yeah, right. And, from what his long(ish) line of admirers had told him, his face, let alone his physique, was definitely not an issue. He'd probably have to work on the last one, but it wasn't like Raven was _going_ anywhere. All the time in the world was laid out before him at his mercy and he planned to take advantage of this wonderful fact.

Careful not to yank the duvet, as he was pretty sure from the steadied, almost non-existent breathing sounds that Raven was asleep, Roy turned to face her back. The strap of her bra didn't have nearly as much mercy, a temptation almost too good to resist. What would happen if he _did_ unclasp it, anyway? Roy went with outcome B (_not_ getting blasted straight to Hell) in his little imagination world – he'd only need one hand for the first part, leaving the other free to roam the curve of her side. Raven would be surprised, sure, but quickly give in when he ran his fingers up from the undone band and hold one shoulder while he devoured the other in kisses and nips at her metallic-coloured skin. When she eventually caved, and she would, the tension would vanish and passion would triumph. Roy would have the perfect position to go directly from her hip to her breast, abandon the recently-rendered-useless undergarment to the floor, and then back down, slithering under the elastic waistband, and-

"Would you stop?"

Roy jumped in shock. He hadn't said anything out-loud, right? Oh, pray to the gods of Olympus...

"I can feel your hormones like flies on a carcass," Raven growled.

Despite the slightly-cramped feeling of his own briefs, Roy was too delighted at the prospect of conversation to pass the opportunity. "How?"

"Empathic, remember?" He heard her shudder. "I can feel _all_ of your... impulses."

"Right," he breathed, pursing his lips.

Raven tucked further into the warmth and soon the silence got to a comfortable level.

"What turns you on?" he asked out of the blue.

Suddenly alert as the question bounced around in the luxury of freedom, Raven bolted upright, hitting the switch. Roy immediately regretted the outburst, wishing there was a way to cram the question back into that dark, dusty corner of his mind.

"Pardon?" she quipped.

After deciding there was definitely no going back Roy repeated himself, less impulsively this time. "What turns you on?"

Raven studied him in the silence. Fuelled by the desire to screw around with his young, (though he _was_ older than herself) impressionable head, she answered "Chains." Surrendering his full and undivided attention, Roy listened intently. "I like metal rings clasped around my wrists and locks at my ankles, with a guy's mouth at my chest and, in the end, _everywhere_else." She sighed wistfully, glancing down to examine each of her nails. "But when they're not into that, I compromise; he'll cling to the bedframe and thrust into my mouth. And_that's_just the beginning."

Roy gulped and eventually found his voice. "Really?" It was, once again, a little huskier. He willed she wouldn't notice.

"No."

Undoubtedly pulsing with incredible stupidity and deserved naivety—a strange feeling for a usually confident and verging-on-cocky male like Roy—he cleared his throat. "Ah, duped," he grinned in an attempt to shake off the obvious embarrassment. "Nice."

Raven shrugged, though held a secret smugness beneath the unsympathetic mask. He'd looked so... hopeful. Pleased, even, at the idea of her being some sexual goddess willing to beg a man for mercy under lock and key.

However, she hadn't put him off asking more questions.

The next quest was to find out, in the subtlest way possible, how easy she was to get out on a date. Or, to narrow down what he _really_wanted to know: how good of a chance he genuinely had.

So the quiz continued.

"How many guys have you boned?"

"I really don't see how it's any of your business," she replied without a second thought.

Roy raised a brow. "So it's either loads or just one that you really regret, huh?"

"Neither."

"Come on, Rae, you can tell me," he insisted, reaching out to touch her arm. The intention quickly fizzled under her deathly glare and he retreated to the back of his neck. "I'll tell you my number if you tell me yours."

Raven made a face, and not one of curiosity. "You act as if I would care to know how many blonde, floaty bimbos have screamed the fake name you gave them. What makes you think I do? You'd bang a _tree_ as long as it had lipstick and a hole."

"Okay, we both know _that's_ not true. Do you have any idea how much the bark would-" He waved his hands, cringing. "Anyway, you can't tell me you don't like knowing what—or who—people are doing," he laughed in disbelief.

Her eyes turned cold and sour at the loudness. "Unlike the superficial persons such as yourself, I prefer not to indulge in dirty gossip."

"Liar – you're just one of those eavesdroppers who doesn't trade."

"One:" she held her index finger up like it was a gun that deemed her words honest, "no, I'm not. Two: don't pretend to know me – you don't. Three: I'm not telling – you'd laugh."

With that, she flipped over, away from his cocked brow and bemused smirk. Twenty-eight seconds later she felt him readjust and snuggle down on the other side. Raven could feel his disappointment and couldn't ignore the rejection seeping across the expensive-feeling bed like ice settling on a lake.

Guilt startled to scratch at her eyes – a little at first, but the cracks grew. It's not like Roy was asking anything _that_ unreasonable. Of_course_ he was curious. This was Speedy – he wanted to know everyone's under-the-sheet details simply because that's who he was. Just a boy, a nineteen-year-old with all these new experiences and such waiting on his doorstep. He just wanted to know where others stood and how to stay one leap ahead in the food chain.

"None."

Screw the guilt – she regretted the word the millisecond it escaped.

A silence she didn't appreciate returned to her, until Roy uttered a "Pardon?"

"I'm a virgin, dumbass," Raven hissed, digging her nails into the pillow.

"No way. You can't be serious."

She got comfortable, facing him again. "Can't I?"

"Are you, like, one of those girls who literally suck, then?" he pressed further.

Raven blushed heavily as what he was implying finally clicked and she shook her head. Talking sex and boys with Roy was easy, until she actually stopped trying to stir him up and told the truth, which happened rarely with the subject of the opposite gender, and **never** with the subject of intimacy. Usually it was sports, why the majority of Titans boys wear tights and excuses to get out of eating any of Kory's concoctions.

Roy had the sheer bravery to edge a little closer while her eyes darted to the far end of the room. "Have you ever actually put your hands down a guy's pants?"

"No."

"So you grind? Play it safe?"

"No."

Roy's slender brows furrowed. "So you just make out a lot." It was more of a statement than anything, and was said with realisation, as if he'd finally cracked the 8-Across in a difficult crossword.

Her last answer repeated again like a broken record.

"So..." He drawled out the word as he thought long and hard about what could come between that and _nothing_. "What... _have_ you done with a guy?"

"You pinched my butt last week and I threw your iPhone in the pool," she replied. "That's it."

Sitting up fully, as if he hadn't heard her right, as if he expected her to crack her small, darkly-beautiful smile and say she was kidding, Roy's eyes widened and his breath caught like he'd swallowed an apple whole. "You can't be serious," he said firmly.

"Once again you fail to realise that I'm trying to be honest with you," she sighed. "I've never sucked a cock; I've never been felt up..." She laughed softly and Roy felt he must have been mistaken when he detected slight sadness as she traced swirls on the bedsheet. "I've never even kissed a boy."

Roy glanced at the majority of her body that the repetitive shifting had revealed. She was like a rainbow in some ways – so cold and almost automatically feared by anyone who crossed her path, yet suddenly she held this... innocence. A purity of sorts, and one the archer never would have guessed of such a strong, determined girl.

"Surely a boyfriend would have tried to-" He stopped dead as she froze. "Oh, never had that, either?"

Raven snorted quietly. "Pathetic, right?"

"Actually, quite cute," he replied smoothly before he could stop his own betraying mouth. "I-I mean," he stammered, desperately attempting to save himself, "_I_ would kiss you, if you let me."

"Which I would never." In an instant, every emotional shield he'd tried so hard to melt away stacked up in the room. The single bulb that had illuminated each twist of her muscle and features did nothing to enlighten Roy to Raven's thoughts as her face became the usual dull, emotionless mask. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to get some sleep."

Roy had no idea why her mood had darkened so quickly. Well, no, that wasn't completely true – one thought begged to differ against his sudden, shock-induced assumptions. Maybe kissing him... vaguely appealed to her. Maybe this was just the first step in actually getting Raven to return—or realise—his feelings.

On the other side, Raven urgently tried to squelch down the massive urge to take up the young man's offer – this was _Roy_, for Goddess' sake.

Speedy.

The guy with the arrows.

The hot red-head with more phone numbers than a stray dog has fleas.

"Do you ever wonder what it's like?"

"Yes." Now, why did she go and say that? "But the excitement is going to kill me, so don't spoil it with your wild tales of passion and true love." The heavy sarcasm was unsuccessful in its attempt to reclaim control over the situation, not that it had ever been in her hands. Roy had his ways of getting the knowledge he wanted and, whether it was blood or tears that had to be spilled, he always finished a job.

"You know, I'd personally rather have my first kiss with a friend," he replied suggestively. "I mean, I didn't, and I wish I had. It was... gross – sloppy. What I needed was a mentor of sorts, and-"

"Cut it, Harper. Not going to happen."

"Let's say, for sake of argument, you get a boyfriend, it goes great, and then you go to lay one on him and it ends up melted butter." Raven could feel the nervous boy crawl closer and tugged the sheet in tighter. "I just don't want you to think back and say 'Wow, if only I had let someone _teach_ me this stuff before I went and did it with someone who it actually mattered to.'"

She checked over her shoulder to see him on his knees, looking down at her. "I'll take my chances. If there's one thing I'm glad about when it comes to having a super-hyper Tamaranean in the Tower, it's the romance novels I sometimes get stuck reading when the team 'accidentally' forgets my books."

"You can't learn a physical skill from a book, Rae. It's like riding a bike... with your tongue."

"Whatever, Harper. I didn't come here to get a lesson in tonsil-tangling."

For the third—or fourth—time that night, Raven turned over...

...and fell straight to the floor.

Well, she _would_ have, had she not instinctively latched onto Roy's thigh before pushing herself back up. He winced but recovered quickly as he saw how she had sat herself in the rush to clamber onto a solid form. She was so close and mirrored his kneeling pose, still clinging to his leg.

"Your words say no, but your body says yes," he grinned. "Like I said, I can teach you-"

"-and like _I_ said," Raven growled, yanking her hand from his, "no. I know all I need to, for now."

"How can you be so sure, without feedback?" he asked.

Raven curled her lip. "Your confidence is unwarranted and verging on nauseating."

"Which is _exactly_ why it turns you on."

She squeezed her eyes shut, so tightly that glowing white blotches appeared in a swirl and blur behind her lids. "Fine," she snapped. "You want it this so badly?"

Despite her sudden rush, Raven hesitated milliseconds before she actually met his mouth, letting the sensitive skin graze his upper lip. Roy Harper, famous womanizer and player extraordinaire, was actually frozen and didn't dare speak, in case she moved away. In case she suddenly took back the idea as quickly as it rose and snuffed the spark out. Instead, by her own will, Raven bit her lip, running her tongue behind the straight teeth, before slipping her hands along to rest either elbow on his lean shoulders. Roy shakily reached up to hold her forearms, just in time before she actually, finally, leant in.

For the first time ever, Roy got fireworks from a kiss. She was firm at first, but the anger that originally fuelled her impulse melted away, leaving only the douses of heat and passion that she caressed for dear life. He shivered as Raven opened her mouth, taking his lower lip into the warmth. With a heartbeat like that of a mouse, Roy found his upper body swaying back a little, just enough to let Raven press her small figure further onto the stronger, fitter one of the pair. He ran his hands down to hold her waist, for security, but didn't find it to be of much use.

"Fuck it," he though daringly, reaching around to grab her backside instead. It made for reliable balance but it was a risky move that could quite easily have him hanging from the Eiffel Tower by his Mickey Mouse boxers. Raven didn't seem to mind – if anything she enjoyed being held so desperately.

Because the truth was that she _liked_ what was happening.

Roy's other hand trailed to above that one, pressing Raven more into the kiss and, notably, more onto _him_. She smiled for a split-second, long enough, however, for the movement to be sensed, right before she opened his mouth again to explore with her tongue. Pushing her stomach against his and her boobs below his collar bone, she had the Titan releasing a small moan into Raven's lips.

Then she stopped.

Roy dropped down, his breath ragged and uneven on Raven's mostly-naked chest. His hands also fell, landing at the bare back of her knees.

Now, it was _her_ turn to be frozen.

Had she really just done that?

Had she really just had her first kiss – with _Speedy?_

It was something to be marvelled as the boy tried to force air into his lungs as subtly as possible. He'd fought criminals, monsters even, and been able to control the oxygen in his body. But Raven?

Raven had sucked that ability to breathe—to _control_— right out of him.

She had to be the one to speak first before Roy had time to think of a remark. "See? Books."

Then he watched her back out of the half-straddle, lift up the covers, and climb into the safety and warmth.

Yes, Roy Harper _always_ got what he wanted.

And tonight was just step one.


	2. Deniers

Roy glanced up yet again from the dishes to see her.

That gorgeous, excitingly-dark beauty, managing to make something as simple as reading an awe-striking sight. Golden light streamed in through the windows as though it knew how to hurt him the worst—leaving her skin untouched by clouds or otherwise—and her whole figure was using that to its advantage in the fairytale-like scene. Judging by the barcode printed on the back, the book she'd currently lost herself in was actually from Earth for once. What was it this time? _Sense and Sensibility_? _Black Beauty_? _Farm Animals_?

"What?"

Raven's eyes had darted up from the pages upon sensing his gaze once more.

His whole body stilled. Despite her cold demeanour, the supposed womanizer couldn't help but find her undeniably alluring.

"_What?_" she repeated, her tone even more agitated.

He cleared his throat hastily as if the sound would make the boy feel any less embarrassed. Another dry plate clinked into the stack. "Nothing."

"Then quit it," she snapped.

Those three hours in which they'd shared the same bed hadn't made a lick of difference to the way she treated him, and Roy wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. To say the least, he'd made a total dick of himself in the way he completely froze at her touch, but that didn't change the fact that Raven had had her first kiss with him. Shouldn't that have meant something to her? It's not like those virgin lips had anything to compare him to, anyway. Shouldn't she be treating him with sun and rainbows in the hope of a _High School Musical_-style relationship? Even an ice storm over the fact that he'd let her do it would be better than this load of _nothing_.

Roy had tried to see the bright side; they'd locked lips, and she wasn't demanding anything more.

Usually, that would have been his dream; making out with a semi-naked chick in a guest room of the Wayne Mansion _without _getting caught (which would mean being subsequently butchered by Grayson) and then not having to worry about the baggage come morning.

But he didn't want that with Raven. The whole reason he even brought her there was so that he could try and thaw her stern outlook on him and his lifestyle. Instead, the idiot had succumbed to hormones instead of sticking to the plan, and now he was blocked in, still pining for the one girl who'd ever turned Roy Harper down.

Underestimating the weight due to the thoughts he found himself so sunken into, the cocky archer wobbled as he tried to heave a pile of dishes off of the counter. Seconds later, in single instant, fingers slipped. He imagined the crash, traced the individual items and predicted where each would shatter, winced.

Suddenly, a mesmerising black enclosed the plates. The crackling blanket proceeded to send each to their designated drawer, much to his amazement.

"Arrogant child," Raven mumbled, eyes still running over row after row of text.

Even though he'd just been rescued from the possibility of explaining to Dick why they were eating off of paper plates that night, Roy wasn't letting her get away with this. He wanted—no, _needed_—to understand her. She was this locked treasure chest, a boiled sweet with the wrapper still on, and one that mystified him to no end.

So in lack of better judgement on his behalf, Raven soon found herself accompanied on the couch. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction granted by single drop of attention, more because she simply didn't care than the nonexistent desire to confuse him further.

Pursed lips pressed to his knuckles, Roy clasped his hands. He leant forward with his elbows balanced on his knees. Raven didn't twitch, except for her eyes which continued to absorb the fantasy world of—funnily enough—Bram Stoker's _Dracula_. Her patience was equally unwavering; her concentration untouchable.

A "testosterone-fuelled brute," she'd called him when he slapped her backside three months earlier right before Silkie "coincidentally" swallowed his Rolex whole. The voice and tone still accompanied those words every time they floated into Roy's head. Unfortunately, he never took that insult to heart. His subconscious—the caveman's survival (and sexual) instincts included—simply felt the need to chase her despite the fact that she wasn't running. And that was exactly the thing that hurt the most; the obvious fact that Raven was indeed not playing hard to get. She wasn't trying to loop him in or anything. This girl was standing still and he couldn't stop himself from crashing into her.

And why was this? Why was it that Raven acted this way?

Simple.

She just didn't particularly want him.

"Why?"

"Hm?" The sound was unfamiliarly high-pitched as she dragged her eyes off the page. "Pardon?"

"Why don't you want me?"

Raven squinted her eyes. It was in some ways as if that night had never happened, to the point where Roy began to wonder if it was just another one of "those" dreams he'd had involving the enchanting girl.

"Why _would _I want you?" she asked slowly.

Roy slapped his wrists against the edge of the couch. "Because we... you and I... I just... and you just won't... Holy mother of fuck."

With an almost concerned look, as if he were nothing but a mad, delirious fool, Raven nodded. "Your use of words is so captivating."

As the last of the smoothly natural sarcasm faded into silence, she almost went back to her book, right as it was yanked away.

"Hey!" she protested. "I was reading that."

"And now you're not," he stated firmly, his jaw clenched as a sign of how close he was getting to losing the temper usually so coolly contained. "We are _going _to talk about this."

Raven huffed, the quickly-released breath making the wisps of hair swooping around her face rise and fall. "What do you want to talk about?" she asked gently.

Knowing full well that she was prepared to be the token empathic, Roy didn't bother responding.

"Silence doesn't help anyone. I can only go on assumptions."

"And which ones have you made?"

She thought about it for a second. "Well, since you've still got my book, I'm _assuming_ there's a point to all this," she answered. "And, also, something's _really _bothering you."

Roy snorted as though she'd told him that her hair was purple. "Thanks, Captain Obvious."

Snatching her hand back, Raven scowled.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I'm just..." He sighed. "It's just... **you**."

"Sorry to be such a burden."

With a palm to his handsome face, Roy was beginning to feel slightly more moronic with each passing millisecond. The rock in his heart was iced further as she tentatively reached out again with shaky fingers to brush his bare arm. Her unease was clear as day in the way Raven awkwardly tried to readjust, moving closer.

Roy glanced up curiously. "Why are you touching me?"

Hurt crossed her eyes—the colour of the finest Syrah mixed with the ripest plums—and she almost jerked away again. "You find comfort in it, don't you?"

He swallowed. "Well, yeah – but _you _don't."

"You're right. I don't particularly like... _contact_. But you're okay, I suppose."

Surprising them both, Roy suddenly took her hand.

"I haven't gotten laid since I first realised I have feelings for you," he blurted.

Every ounce of breathable air seemed to vanish from the room. As the words settled in amongst the sound of two rapid heartbeats, both Titans tried to see where he was going with this.

Roy's heavy outward breath signalled that he wasn't finished; however, Raven was already dreading what he would say next in this conversation. Exactly _what _was he trying to say here?

And why wasn't she just walking away from this horrible mess?

"I'm not saying that to be a sappy douche-bag from one of the flicks in Kory's _god-awful_ DVD collection, but I _am_ trying to make a point – I've just been doing a whole load of things to impress you and then you don't seem to give a shit. You aside, I haven't even _kissed _a girl – nothing in-between either."

This was a new experience altogether. No-one had ever really tried to "impress" Raven before, especially not for romantic reasons. And Roy, _Roy Harper_, playboy party-goer, not kissing a girl? "I never noticed."

He scoffed half-heartedly at her and looked around. "See that big, stupid piano over there? Did you notice _that?_"

Even though her eyes didn't want to be taken away from his, Raven snuck a quick glimpse of the gorgeous, shiny black. She nodded once. Somehow she knew it just wasn't her turn to talk yet.

"I bought it, and then I learnt to _play_ it. Can you believe that? _Me_ on a _piano?_"

"Seems pretty unbelievable."

"And that's not all – I spent one hour begging and then another four cleaning that bloody garage at your Tower so that Vic would give me the recipe for the guacamole you love so much. I went to two poetry-readings, got a library card, learnt French, bought herbal tea for you so you don't have to go shopping for some every time you come over." Roy laughed softly. "Hell, I even read _To Kill a Mocking Bird_. You know how many words that has in it? A _lot_. Do you get it now, Rae? I'm whipped."

Raven's lungs were too busy trying to grasp at oxygen that had ditched her brain to let her comprehend anything he was saying as truth. She growled, shifting herself away, "You're trying to goad me into kissing you again, right?"

"No!" he argued. "Honest!"

"Unlike the traditional depiction of a teenage girl, I don't care much about _firsts_," she replied smoothly. The way she could switch her vocal textures so quickly frustrated Roy to no extent. "I kissed you, and there wasn't anything special about it other than the fact that I easily won an argument."

"Don't say that – don't say it meant nothing." He was caving. Surely she didn't believe what he thought she was implying, right?

"Would you prefer I _lie _to you?"

Slouching back against the faux-leather cushion, Roy propped an arm up and continued to protest her point. "You're cruel. Let's say, hypothetically, that what you're saying is true. Why won't you let it happen again if it doesn't matter anyway?"

Realising she had no hope of peace, Raven reached over his lap and snatched her book back. Too distracted by her slinky figure, the easily sidetracked boy failed to notice he'd just lost the only hostage worth having. She lowered her feet to the ground and began to walk away.

"Why?" he repeated.

With a sigh so heavy it could measure up with buildings, Raven spun on her heel. "You failed to please in the slightest, Harper. Kissing you was like trying to make out with a dead fish with half the brains and a quarter of the stamina. I don't know how you got such a sex-god reputation."

Shock had his mouth hanging agape.

"Did you just compare me to a... thing with... gills?" he asked slowly.

Raven raised both eyebrows, her left slightly higher in a slightly-sneering disbelief. "Really? That's all you gathered?"

Not thinking he was actually that bad at _anything _involving boobs and a tongue, Roy also stood, facing his fellow Titan and accuser. "What did I do wrong?" he cried, holding his palms to her.

"You froze up on me. I don't care how good it was—and I know you liked it—but that was just... selfish," she shrugged.

"You can't seriously... I moved my hands! I-"

"-grabbed my arse, yes," she finished with an exhausted roll of her eyes. "Well done, Watson. But admit it: that was more to fill the void left by your own lust than as an act of kindness for _me_, wasn't it?"

Roy fought the tempting urge to blush and cry and scream at the heavens as his calm façade began to peel dangerously, revealing his yearning to have this girl.

"And if you decided to think more with your empathy and less with your penis, you'd probably have a pretty good thing going," she concluded.

Putting a small, hesitant foot forward, the young man held out his hand again. "I just refuse to believe you don't care about me that way."

"Look," she said and with all her monk-induced patience, "if it's really that difficult to _accept_, then maybe you should just get over it."

Roy dropped back into the couch as Raven stalked away, left alone and confused.

What happened?

What did he do?

* * *

Dug lowly in a similar mood, each corner of the hallway just made Raven feel worse and worse. It was as if every wall panel whispered a different insult about her complete lack of faith for her team-mate. Well, it wasn't even that – it wasn't even a lack of faith in his claims of abstinence, but the idea of his new character contrasting so drastically to the Roy she met three years ago. The more she thought about the pathetic pleading in his voice and the approval-seeking the more Raven began to regret her harshness.

However, she had to keep reminding herself that this was _Roy Harper_, just not the one Raven thought she knew. The sex-pot goof had... changed. He wasn't trying to sleep with a girl – he learnt the _piano _for her. For someone as impatient as this guy it wouldn't have been an easy task.

But it had happened.

He'd done it.

The door squealed as it slid open at the push of a button, sliding closed behind her.

Raven wished she could have the luxury of telling herself that the rejection was a simple mistake caused by the fact that Roy had built such a reputable image, even encouraging it himself. That would be a lie, though.

Because the fact was simply that this attention... was alien to her. He went out of his way to talk to her, to drive her to the libraries, the bookshops and the second-hand stores on the other side of Jump City. He came to visit when she was snot-nosed and looking like Rudolf because Garfield couldn't keep his bloody germs to himself. He even brought treats for Sir Needs-a-Shave despite the fact that there were still two pairs of dot-like scars to decorate his right thigh. He looked at people and observed them like small animals, watching them evolve and change, but Raven?

He looked at her as though she were a goddess walking before his very eyes. There was no denying she'd grown a soft spot where she almost adored the way he lit up a little at her sight. It was even more pointless to pretend Raven didn't feel somewhat the same.

So why did she feel the need to push these things aside?

Raven groaned angrily, the noise gratefully quieted by the smooth cotton. While she had requested just have a plain room with a few books, a clothes rack, shelf, and bed, Karen had _insisted _on making it feel as homey as possible. This was apparently an invitation for the twins to get artistic with the black paint. A smile couldn't resist itself as Raven peeked up to see that giant yellow face printed upon the far wall. For the first few nights it had loomed over her, watching her, waiting with its sideways "C" grin and precisely-measured circles. Eventually she had to come to an agreement with the silly thing, deciding to see it as a protector rather than a crazy yellow face (when, undoubtedly, it actually was).

Roy had offered to cover it up with a giant _Paramore _poster he "had handy", to which Raven had politely declined as she didn't want to hurt Mas y Meno's feelings. This was the perfect opportunity for Garth to jump in with a joke about her not wanting cooties right before his friend tackled him to the floor. Okay, it probably wasn't the best idea to tell Karen to get the camera out, especially as the youngest of Titans East soon found the video and the whole world saw Roy get hit in the face with a fish on YouTube, but he'd laughed.

Maybe having someone like him as a fixture in Raven's life wouldn't be so bad. Playful, charming, a nice arse, kind, good figure, solid, and, Goddess, _those lips..._

Most of the stuff said in the main room?

_Lies._

The kiss that'd started this whole thing wasn't close to a waste. Roy had done something unknown, something even the empathic couldn't place, but he'd hit a nerve, tempted it, broken a wall for it. She'd found a sense of control—_dominance_—that lived nowhere else in her life. From the start she'd been told what to do, and now someone was just handing her the remote. She had him "whipped", as Roy had so tactfully put it. However, that didn't mean he had slacked off – his mouth pressuring along with her almost automatically in slow, fluid movements. To say Roy was a skilled kisser didn't come close to covering the subtle way he caressed her. She knew his excitement was uncontainable – Raven had realised how he felt the moment she saw him stop the Titans East car to allow a trail of ducklings, obediently following their mother, to pass. That didn't mean that his concern for a few birds made his emotions bubble to the surface in her mind's eye, simply that she became conscious of the _other _side of Roy Harper; the caring, soft, kind side.

There was a light tapping – Sir Needs-a-Shave had bored himself of the flies and had his front legs placed against the glass, feeling around for something that wasn't there. Raven smiled to herself; could relate to that; racking her brain for any possible way to eliminate her guilt other than the one idea that she cursed for arising. By then, however, it was official by all means of reason.

* * *

So that was exactly how Roy ended up opening the door half-naked and still upset.

"The welcome committee really went out of its way, huh?"

The fully prepared "Fuck off, Aquatard," died on his lips as a little bit of relief sunk in. Raven wasn't going to wring his neck for that shit – the smile in her eyes confirmed that. Those two orbs told countless stories in codes nearly impossible to crack, but Roy knew he had been close to doing so. The way she acted around him... It didn't take a rocket-scientist to see how automatically the girl eased up. Roy had thought maybe that had meant something more than just a really good friendship.

More than something that could be summed up in a simple kiss, anyway.

It then occurred to him that day-dreaming didn't mean reality had frozen, and Raven was still standing in front of him.

"Yeah, I was just..." He nodded, clearing his throat. "I don't know."

Her sight travelled down – from anyone else the gesture would have evoked a snarky joke at the perviness of it; from Raven, however, with a face so innocent, it was cute.

A soft gasp slipped out. "Your hand..." she whispered.

Roy shrugged as though his knuckles weren't throbbing mercilessly beneath the white – like the torn streaks where his skin had scraped plaster didn't feel like they were being submerged in acid. "I punched a wall."

Raven's fingertips gently brushed the bandages, the slight sting causing Roy to wince quietly. As she brought his palm to her, the hot blood began to cool to a comfortable warmth. It wasn't an unfamiliar sensation nor an unpleasant one, but Roy stepped away.

"What are you trying to do, here?" he asked with slight bitterness.

Swallowing any means of escape, Raven told him "I want to talk."

He looked to the floor and readjusted the waist of his jeans to cover the slim strap of the green briefs practically screaming in their brightness. "Yeah? About what, Rae?"

She usually liked the way her nickname sounded coming from him. This time, however, it was tainted with a cracked fierceness. The mean tone he was going for was transparent, his true emotions clear as morning air.

Embarrassment.

Regret.

Hurt.

"You, me," she answered, followed by a pause before adding "_us_."

They both stood in the blistering silence as Roy weighed up the three words.

"Can I come in?"

He sighed through his nose and took a step to the left, allowing her space to slip past and into the shadows.

"Lights, Roy?"

"Sure."

"Wow."

A couple of items clattered in protest as they were kicked under the bed and out of sight. Raven pretended not to notice, but said "It's okay. It's not _that _messy... Compared to Garfield's room, anyway."

Roy jerked his head up. "You've been in Gar's room?"

She smirked slightly at his instant defensiveness. "You're cute. Don't worry; I just had to tell him to get his arse out of bed, put some clothes on and get the hell out. Kory wanted to go to the beach or something."

"'Put some clothes on'?" he chuckled nervously. "You're not exactly backing your case here."

"Hey, _you've_ seen _me _in something Garfield hasn't," Raven pointed out.

"And what's that?"

"As I recall, _almost_ nothing," she replied. "Plus, you _kissed _me in almost nothing. I can honestly say the Green Wonder's never done that."

Roy felt his blood catch fire, burning his cheeks to a bright blush. "And that's what you want to talk about."

Raven brushed her fingers across the side of the bookshelf, a statement yellow against the reds, blacks, oranges and greens that decorated his room. Apparently he hadn't bothered to pick a colour theme other than "fire-Christmas rainbow".

"You read the same comic-books the boys at the West Tower do," she stated, plucking out the one closest to her.

Roy watched the girl sit down on his bed as she continued to scan the page with a soft glint in her eyes. He leant against the wall with his arms folded in concealed curiosity. "What are you reading?" he asked impatiently.

"They don't get it, do they?"

"Who?"

Holding the magazine with a shy bite of her lip, Raven crossed her legs. "The writers. These superheroes... Their relationships are so crazy, like exotic romances. Either it's all sex, passion, hate and lies, or sweet, everlasting 'I-will-love-you-forever-and-always-have'."

He dropped next to her and flashed a small, hopeful smile. "So, _superhero_, what's _our _relationship like?"

"What do you want it to be like?" she asked. As she spoke, the hood fell back to fold around her shoulders.

A solidly frustrated groan rumbled from deep in Roy's throat, stopping only as his back hit the bed.

"That's not an answer," he grumbled roughly into his palms.

"You're right," Raven sighed, leaning on her elbow beside the irritated red-head. "But I need to know what you want before I can discuss my own conditions and agree."

Roy took a wisp of the perfectly straight, lavender-coloured hair between his fingers. "It's not a peace treaty, but if you _must_ know for the sake of your life, then I... I want to be able to spend time with you **alone** and just talk. I want this—_us_—to be exclusive; I don't want to see you dating anyone else." He rubbed his neck. "Wow. I must sound... possessive."

"That's all?"

"Does that surprise you?"

"I guess I was expecting more." Raven chewed her lip. "Are you sure that's it? What about physical things? What about that kiss you went on about for so long?"

"Well, obviously I'd wanna make out with you. It wouldn't be the biggest factor, but it's not exactly something I'd expect you to consider a curse. We'll do whatever you want when you're ready for it, I guess. All in all, normal couple stuff." Sitting up with an awkward scratch of his shoulder, Roy mumbled something under his breath.

Raven eyed him fondly. He seemed to think her ears were made of the thinnest, most delicate glass known to man or Martian alike.

"Making out sounds like fun," she said.

The reaction was exactly how it had been predicted: two big, smokey-green eyes examined Raven as though she had just told him that Garth was pregnant with squid babies.

Pushing herself upright, the girl averted her eyes from his disbelief. "Well, since you're being quite quiet with a look of utterly-dumbstruck stupidity, I'll go ahead and say that in this moment of honesty I find it acceptable to say that making out with _you _sounds like fun."

"Me?" Roy finally spluttered. "But all that stuff you said... You told me I was like one of Aquatard's stupid under-the-sea mates!"

"You took my book, I got mad," she shrugged. "I may have exaggerated just a _little _bit."

Roy gaped. "'Just a little bit'?" He pointed to his wrapped-up hand. "I punched a _wall_!"

"Sorry – I didn't realise insulting your snogging abilities would result in violence towards the poor Tower. What did it ever do to _you?_"

"I should kick you out."

A sly smile made him gulp. "You're a smart man, Harper, and I doubt you'd turn me away when you haven't heard _my _terms."

"And what are they?"

"Pretty much the same as yours, the difference being P-D-A is kept to a minimal. No pet-names. 'Babe' is okay. 'Rae-Rae' isn't."

Roy nodded. "Sounds fair."

Cocking her head with her killer eyes gleaming, Raven held him in his place. "I'm not finished yet."

She moved forward, hands outreached for his shoulders. There they paused, right before Raven yanked him, falling back with him to readjust his position on top.

His breathing reminded her of when she was a rabbit, but Raven didn't miss the darting glance that shot to her lips, breasts, then her eyes.

"And the last thing?" he finally asked.

"Kiss me."

Roy couldn't help but laugh, causing hurt to flush a red tint across Raven's cheeks.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, "but you just didn't seem like the type to want something so cheesy."

"Enough," she snapped, mortification fizzling in the blood vessels under her skin. "Show me what a real Speedy kiss is like. _Now_."

He immediately clamped his mouth shut and her fingers responsively snaked their way to the back of his neck. There was a still moment where Roy had to ponder exactly _how _he was going to go about this. What did she want? The same as last time, or just a quick peck? A pash that'll have them both breathing in rigged, wavering gulps?

But Raven was beginning to get impatient beneath him, parting her legs to hook both ankles around his calves. Forcing him... _closer_.

And he couldn't wait.

So slowly he leaned in, briefly touching her lips like they were going to shatter if he pressed too hard. In a second, though, he risked it, fully kissing her like she'd done that other night. Only... _gentler_. Softer. It surprised Raven that he was going so easily.

That wasn't to say it didn't feel good – it was beautiful.

This time he didn't reach for the obvious places – Roy cupped his hands behind the girl's shoulders, massaging them soothingly as he brushed his teeth across her lower lip. His tongue tentatively explored further, barely reaching the closest part of the roof of Raven's mouth. She squeaked and Roy pulled away, terrified that she'd be angered that he'd made her do something like that.

Instead, Raven looked confused, but nevertheless dreamy and wonderstruck.

"That was... that was... _wow_," Raven breathed.

"Yeah?" Roy swallowed. "Not... like a fish?"

Raven smiled—like, really _smiled_—pressed her mouth to his.

"Not at all," she answered.


End file.
